百年孤独(英文版)-第93部分
按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
he most unlikely parts of the house。 One night thirty feet from his bed； on the silver workbench； the couple with unhinged bellies broke the bottles and ended up making love in a pool of muriatic acid。 Aureliano not only could not sleep for a single second； but he spent the next day with a fever； sobbing with rage。 The first night that he waited for Nigromanta to e to the shadows of the almond trees it seemed like an eternity； pricked as he was by the needles of uncertainty and clutching in his fist the peso and fifty cents that he had asked Amaranta ？rsula for； not so much because he needed it as to involve her； debase her； prostitute her in his adventure in some way。 Nigromanta took him to her room； which was lighted with false candlesticks； to her folding cot with the bedding stained from bad loves； and to her body of a wild dog； hardened and without soul； which prepared itself to dismiss him as if he were a frightened child； and suddenly it found a man whose tremendous power demanded a movement of seismic readjustment from her insides。
They became lovers。 Aureliano would spend his mornings deciphering parchments and at siesta time he would go to the bedroom where Nigromanta was waiting for him； to teach him first how to do it like earthworms； then like snails； and finally like crabs； until she had to leave him and lie in wait for vagabond loves。 Several weeks passed before Aureliano discovered that around her waist she wore a small belt that seemed to be made out of a cello string； but which was hard as steel and had no end； as if it had been born and grown with her。 Almost always； between loves； they would eat naked in the bed； in the hallucinating heat and under the daytime stars that the rust had caused to shine on the zinc ceiling。 It was the first time that Nigromanta had had a steady man； a bone crusher from head to toe； as she herself said； dying with laughter； and she had even begun to get romantic illusions when Aureliano confided in her about his repressed passion for Amaranta ？rsula； which he had not been able to cure with the substitution but which was twisting him inside all the more as experience broadened the horizons of love。 After that Nigromanta continued to receive him with the same warmth as ever but she made him pay for her services so strictly that when Aureliano had no money she would make an addition to his bill； which was not figured in numbers but by marks that she made with her thumbnail behind the door。 At sundown； while she was drifting through the shadows in the square； Aureliano； was going along the porch like a stranger； scarcely greeting Amaranta ？rsula and Gaston； who usually dined at that time； and shutting herself up in his room again； unable to read or write or even think because of the anxiety brought on by the laughter； the whispering； the preliminary frolics； and then the explosions of agonizing happiness that capped the nights in the house。 That was his life two years before Gaston began to wait for the airplane； and it went on the same way on the afternoon that he went to the bookstore of the wise Catalonian and found four ranting boys in a heated argument about the methods used to kill cockroaches in the Middle Ages。 The old bookseller； knowing about Aureliano’s love for books that had been read only by the Venerable Bede； urged him with a certain fatherly malice to get into the discussion； and without even taking a breath； he explained that the cockroach； the oldest winged insect on the face of the earth； had already been the victim of slippers in the Old Testament； but that since the species was definitely resistant to any and all methods of extermination； from tomato dices with borax to flour and sugar； and with its one thousand six hundred three varieties had resisted the most ancient； tenacious； and pitiless persecution that mankind had unleashed against any living thing since the beginnings； including man himself； to such an extent that just as an instinct for reproduction was attributed to humankind； so there must have been another one more definite and pressing； which was the instinct to kill cockroaches； and if the latter had succeeded in escaping human ferocity it was because they had taken refuge in the shadows； where they became invulnerable because of man’s congenital fear of the dark； but on the other hand they became susceptible to the glow of noon； so that by the Middle Ages already； and in present times； and per omnia secula seculorum； the only effective method for killing cockroaches was the glare of the sun。
That encyclopedic coincidence was the beginning of a great friendship。 Aureliano continued getting together in the afternoon with the four arguers； whose names were ？lvaro； Germán； Alfonso； and Gabriel； the first and last friends that he ever had in his life。 For a man like him； holed up in written reality； those stormy sessions that began in the bookstore and ended at dawn in the brothels were a revelation。 It had never occurred to him until then to think that literature was the best plaything that had ever been invented to make fun of people； as ？lvaro demonstrated during one night of revels。 Some time would have to pass before Aureliano realized that such arbitrary attitudes had their origins in the example of the wise Catalonian； for whom wisdom was worth nothing if it could not be used to invent a way of preparing chick peas。
The afternoon on which Aureliano gave his lecture on cockroaches； the argument ended up in the house of the girls who went to bed because of hunger； a brothel of lies on the outskirts of Macondo。 The proprietress was a smiling mamasanta； tormented by a mania for opening and closing doors。 Her eternal smile seemed to have been brought on by the credulity of her customers； who accepted as something certain an establishment that did not exist except in the imagination； because even the tangible things there were unreal： the furniture that fell apart when one sat on it； the disemboweled phonograph with a nesting hen inside； the garden of paper flowers； the calendars going back to the years before the arrival of the banana pany； the frames with prints cut out of magazines that had never been published。 Even the timid little whores who came from the neighborhood： when the proprietress informed them that customers had arrived they were nothing but an invention。 They would appear without any greeting in their little flowered dresses left over from days when they were five years younger； and they took them off with the same innocence with which they had put them on； and in the paroxysms of love they would exclaim good heavens； look how that roof is falling in； and as soon as they got their peso and fifty cents they would spend it on a roll with cheese that the proprietress sold them； smiling more than ever； because only she knew that that meal was not true either。 Aureliano； whose world at that time began with Melquíades？parchments and ended in Nigromanta’s bed； found a stupid cure for timidity in the small imaginary brothel。 At first he could get nowhere； in rooms where the proprietress would enter during the best moments of love and make all sorts of ments about the intimate charms of the protagonists。 But with time he began to get so familiar with those misfortunes of the world that on one night that was more unbalanced than the others he got undressed in the small reception room and ran through the house balancing a bottle of beer on his inconceivable maleness。 He was the one who made fashionable the extravagances that the proprietress celebrated with her eternal smile； without protesting； without believing in them just as when Germán tried to burn the house down to show that it did not exist； and as when Alfonso wrung the neck of the parrot and threw it into the pot where the chicken stew was beginning to boil。
Although Aureliano felt himself linked to the four friends by a mon affection and a mon solidarity； even to the point where he thought of them as if they were one person； he was closer to Gabriel than to the others。 The link was born on the night when he casually mentioned Colonel Aureliano Buendía and Gabriel was the only one who did not think that he was making fun of somebody。 Even the proprietress； who normall
